Annette Kellerman, The Million Dollar Mermaid
Long before Kylie or Elle, our first female superstar scandalised the world. Athlete, dancer, diver, fitness expert, model and movie star, the daring woman known as the “Million Dollar Mermaid” was ahead of her time in every way.
It was a hot summer’s Sunday in 1908 and Revere Beach, in Boston, USA, was packed with the usual crowd making the most of the weather. Young ladies were promenading up and down the sand in their fashionable bathing dresses – complete with sailor collars and bloomers – throwing aside their sense of modesty and showing their calves to the appreciative men. Suddenly, there was a commotion. People began pointing, women started screaming and parents hurried to cover their children’s eyes. “Shame on you!” they cried.
There on the shore stood a confident young woman, resplendent in a man’s bathing costume – a skin-tight one-piece black suit with legs that ended well above her knees. She was about to wade in to the waves when a policeman strode across the beach and charged her with indecency. Annette Kellerman had arrived in America.
